beneath the surface: making underwater images communicate

make a difference on World Ocean’s Day: help create a marine reserve

an opportunity to create the biggest marine reserve in the Atlantic Ocean…

Why make a difference?

I often think about an important question put to me by a good friend and fellow underwater photographer. She asked, “Why do we do this?” (take photos). One of my answers is that we can show others the wonderful underwater world that we are fortunate enough to enjoy, and that we can support conservation initiatives to safeguard it for future generations.

One campaign I’m supporting directly – and I invite you to support it too – is close to my heart. I’m one of those lucky few to have dived in the remote waters off Ascension Island in the South Atlantic. I felt compelled to write about it and said that:

“…the rewards for divers are immense; the isolation that makes access difficult also makes Ascension a natural marine reserve…Ascension surpasses many locations for its sheer abundance of marine life to the extent that I rate it as one of the best places that I have dived in the World. It gives both hope and cause for reflection and is thus something of a paradox: only where mankind cannot easily reach an environment does it seem to thrive as it was intended.”

Ascension enjoys some protection due to its remoteness, but it might not be long before the world’s fishing fleets find it economically viable to search out what little might be left, if the current depredations of fish stocks take their final toll. And some of you may be aware that a survey discovered important new species in Ascension Island’s rich waters. So there may be a case now to create the biggest ever protective marine reserve in the Atlantic. I’m hugely supportive of this initiative and now working with the Blue Marine Foundation, which is launching its first ever crowd funding campaign, going live today on World Ocean’s Day.

How can we make a difference?

The project that the foundation is raising money for is: “Protecting Paradise” – a survey into Ascension Island and its unique biodiversity. If you are interested in this and would like to support – check out the details through the link below. For those that can, dive deeper and help us to raise critical funds that might protect our beautiful underwater world.

Here’s the link to BLUE’s Campaign, which has gone live today on World Ocean’s Day. If you do nothing else, please do “like” the idea at the preceding campaign link; spreading the word really does help.

Please also consider a small investment in a richly-illustrated unique guide to diving and snorkeling in Ascension Island. I will donate 10% of any royalties to the marine reserve conservation project, in addition to the direct support that I’m already providing.